Spurs sack Sherwood as managerial merry-go-round begins

Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.

Tim Sherwood had fulfilled just five of the 18 months in his deal before being dismissed by Tottenham owner Daniel Levy

Story highlights

Tottenham Hotspur dismiss manager Tim Sherwood

Southampton coach Mauricio Pochettino is favorite to take charge of Spurs

Sherwood dismissal comes shortly after West Brom part ways with Pepe Mel

There was barely time for the pea to stop spinning as the final whistle blew on the Premier League season before club owners started the next phase of their insatiable quest for improved fortunes.

West Bromwich Albion took less than 24 hours to dispense with the services of Spanish coach Pepe Mel, while Tottenham Hotspur managed to wait just a little longer before sacking Tim Sherwood.

The dismissals take the number of Premier League managers sacked in the course of the 2013-2014 season to 12, with West Ham manager Sam Allardyce also in danger of losing his job.

Tuesday was also the day when many expected Louis van Gaal to give a concrete update on his chances of joining Manchester United, but the man who will step down as Netherlands coach after the forthcoming World Cup was non-committal.

"I'm here as Dutch national team coach, not the future Manchester United coach," Van Gaal told reporters at the training camp in Hoenderloo, before refusing to be drawn further on the subject.

The Dutchman has been widely tipped to take charge at Old Trafford, after a tumultuous season in which Ryan Giggs finished as interim manager following the dismissal of David Moyes.

Even though Sherwood left White Hart Lane with the best win percentage (59%) of any Spurs manager in the Premier League, he paid the price for failing to keep his emotions in check and to take Spurs into the Champions League.

JUST WATCHED

Barnes: Only education will stop racism

MUST WATCH

JUST WATCHED

Sturridge's World Cup dream

MUST WATCH

Sturridge's World Cup dream01:40

Andre Villas-Boas was manager for the first half of the season so Sherwood cannot take all the blame yet he did finish the season 10 points off the Champions League places, having taken charge when the gap was half that tally.

"We appointed Tim mid-season as someone who knew both the players and the club," said Tottenham owner Daniel Levy in a statement.

"We agreed an 18-month contract with a break clause at the end of the season and we have now exercised that option."

Overseeing Sunday's 3-0 defeat of Aston Villa, which enabled Spurs to finish sixth, Sherwood did at least ensure a fourth consecutive season of Europa League football, worth around $14 million to the club.

That falls short of the Champions League football that owner Daniel Levy so desperately wants to see, both for its prestige and riches.

In addition to the $42 million guaranteed by television money, clubs can also profit by squeezing every last ounce out of their commercial partners given the greater exposure afforded by being part of European football's greatest club competition.

Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino is favorite to replace Sherwood and if the Argentine can lift the Saints to eighth, can he be the man to take Spurs back to the Champions League for the first time since 2010/11?

Such a return would be particularly welcome, especially with the new television deal guaranteeing English clubs at least $67 million when it comes into play for the 2015/16 season.

While such sums seem suitably seductive, they are not far off the amount that clubs earn just by staying in the Premier League.

Take West Brom's neighbors and rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers, who were pulling in the Premier League pay packed until their relegation in 2012.

During the 2011-12 season, the club made a profit of $9.7 million but one year later, they had lost $50 million -- a figure that would have been worse had it not been for the first parachute payment ($27m of $81m) that clubs receive after relegation from the Premier League.

It's a reminder to West Brom, who finished the season just one place above the relegation zone, of the importance of getting their next appointment right, following a season in which both Mel and predecessor Steve Clarke were pushed out.